Affection
by Lon Wolfgood
Summary: She tags along, waiting for the right moment. Revenge, it's all that matters. A series of drabbles loosely based on episode 39 and taking a different direction. [AU, AlMartel, hints of EdWin] [ABANDONED]
1. Chapter 1

**1. Stargazing**

The cold desert night was taking its toll on her. Being half snake didn't help either, she couldn't tremble anymore to generate heat. She looked over at the brothers. Edward was sleeping, snorting rather loudly. _Can't even be quiet in his sleep..._ She thought bitterly.

And then there was Alphonse, sitting not too far from his brother, looking up at the stars. She wondered if he ever slept. _Probably not, due to not having his body..._ She got up, slowly, due to the low body temperature; and walked up to him. "Hey, Al" She whispered, not wanting to wake up the older Elric.

He looked at her, with the usual expressionless, iron face. "Hello, Martel" He said softly, and quickly looked up at the sky again. "You can't sleep?"

She sighed, sitting down next to him. "No" She simply said, as she tried rubbing her hands, in an attempt to warm up. She was somewhat successful. "What do you do all night?"

He shrugged. "I look at the sky, try to form something with the stars... Rarely, though. If there's paper and ink, I write. Sometimes I draw..." He trailed off when he noticed her saddened face. "It's not that bad, once you get used to it" She tried to touch his hand, but he pulled away. "I wouldn't do that, unless you want to freeze. I get very cold in nights like this"

Martel didn't say anything, instead, she slipped closer to him and took his hand anyway. He was right, his hand was freezing. "You're really going to stop me from seeking revenge?" She asked, almost to herself.

"If I must" He said, instinctively closing his hand around hers. But he stopped when he realized he'd probably hurt her, and put his hand over his leg again. "Though I wish you wouldn't do it" He didn't dare looking down at her.

She smiled, looking at the stars. "Tell me... What do you see up there?"


	2. Chapter 2

**2. Understanding**

_Dead people don't have emotions_, Martel insisted. _I'm dead, I'm a chimera_.

But then _why_ couldn't she act the same around the younger Elric? She could snap at Edward, curse at Hawkeye, want to kill Kimblee... But when it came to Alphonse, she could trust him, hiding in him. Allowing him to shield her from the world.

_Why him?_ He wanted everyone to be happy, to forget their problems and move on... It was an honest thing, yet it annoyed her.

When she asked him why he wanted that, he was speechless. Then he sat down and told her what he and his brother had done. She had only known that they tried human transmutation, but never got the details. She understood, once he was done explaining, why he wanted her to move on.

Revenge could only bring death and sorrow.

She had objected, it wasn't logical. She was dead already, all of her friends had been killed...

Alphonse had looked at her not saying anything, but she knew he was disappointed. How did she know? It was as if she could look into his soul, beyond the armor. Just like he did to her. Beyond the chimera, beyond the snake.

-

_**Notes:** I forgot to say, I had originally done this for a LJ community, but I got impatient. :P This will end up being an AU series, as stated (somewhat) in the summary._


	3. Chapter 3

**3. What you can't see**

Edward had broken his automail again, and there was no way he was going into a fight without being able to use his arm. It was decided then, that they'd have to go to Rizenburg and have Winry repair it. Of course, it meant the chimera woman would have to go with them. It was a short trip in train, and then a short walk to the Rockbell residence.

Before his brother could knock on the door, it flung open and a blonde girl started beating the older Elric with a wrench. Martel amusedly watched while Alphonse gave moral support to his brother.

Once things calmed down, she walked through the house, looking around, and stopped when she noticed some pictures of children. In most of them, there were two boys and a girl. She could easily tell that one of the boys was Edward and the girl was Winry, that meant that the other boy was... "Oh"

Martel turned around and noticed the big armor looking at her, as she held a picture in her hands. She hadn't even noticed she had taken it. "It's you?" He nodded. And there was an uncomfortable silence as she went back to stare at the pictures. "Body or not, you're a beautiful person"

He was stunned, he couldn't say anything when she put the picture back to where it belonged and went to the kitchen. _I don't need to breathe, yet I think I'm holding my breath..._

-

_**Notes:** Ok, if I can stop being lazy I'll translate it to Spanish... :P _


	4. Chapter 4

**4. Field study**

She couldn't understand them. No matter how long she spent looking at them as they interacted, she would never understand. How Winry could argue about anything she thought Edward did wrong, and how he'd spent time arguing back about not knowing what he did to anger her.

Alphonse would stay away, playing with the family dog or helping the old Rockbell woman. Martel wondered if he ever was worried that his brother would get killed by the younger automail mechanic. He looked at her, expressionless as always, but in his voice there was amusement. "That is the only way they show their feelings..."

"Oh" Martel said, as they turned to see Edward running and Winry throwing a wrench at him. The younger Elric looked at his friend and wondered why was she trying to understand the dynamics of his brother and Winry's twisted relationship. "I see" She said to herself.

He watched her walk away, back into the house. Al wondered if one day it would happen again, one day when they wouldn't eventually leave. "Ack! What am I thinking?" He scolded himself.


End file.
